On Clarke’s radar are the seven road projects that depend on an infrastructure commitment from the province and the federal government’s Build Canada Fund. However, the municipality was recently told it needs to submit updated traffic data for its funding proposal.

“There was some discussion about whether or not the traffic patterns would have gone down over historical data,” said Clarke.

“We know that the number of vehicle patterns are actually going up within the municipality. So we will validate that with current traffic counts.”

Clarke said the municipality has already spent $3 million on patch work and expects to spend another $9 million on roads this year.

While it awaits federal funding, its roadways continue to crumble.

“I did emphasize that CBRM is under great pressure and we are at the ready to do our part, even under our stressed economics,” said Clarke.

“We have the money at the table.”

At the start of a media scrum, Clarke wagged a finger at Furey for not answering his recent phone calls.

Asked about the meeting, Furey said it allowed for an “open, honest dialogue.”

Due to a formal process, the municipality’s roadwork application depends on the province, as the Build Canada Fund requires an assessment at the provincial level.

“We do that background work to ensure that the applications, the project proposals, meet the criteria that’s laid out by the federal government, and there’s been some discussion back and forth between staff in my office and the mayor’s staff,” Furey said.

“I’ve committed to the mayor that with that information, we would move that back to (the provincial) Treasury Board, recognize the challenges of CBRM as priorities and advance that project proposal to our federal colleagues.”

Furey said the municipality’s application for funding could be made as early as next week, adding that it stands to gain up to $15 million to be handed out over three years.

Clarke said he remains hopeful that his “worst first” projects will be completed before the end of this construction season.

“The normal season would be a cutoff by December,” said Clarke.

“Mother Nature can dictate the success or failure of a project. We cannot go too far into the season if it’s bad weather because you’ll just be wasting money.”

Wayne MacDonald, the municipality’s engineering director, said its road work applications have been in place since last year.

He said the traffic numbers originally supplied in its submission were five to eight years old.

“At the end of the day, we need the funding,” said MacDonald. “We’re going to do whatever we have to.”

In order to secure funding, MacDonald said the municipality must prove that at least 10,000 vehicles travel on its collector roads each day.